On the Dangers of a Big Red Button
by Guardian of Hope
Summary: While exploring the Facility from which they rescued Jake, Allison, and Erica, Justin discovers some interesting technology. When it appears that SPD has been trying to interfere with the Pack before they were a Pack, Justin and Scott conspire to get some of their own back.
1. Chapter 1

Scott and Stiles found Justin at the facility they'd raided, in the medical building. The older werewolf was wearing a bright blue tracksuit and his hair was a rumpled mess, it was very different from his usual wardrobe of blue jeans and a button down shirt, tie optional. He was hovering over a bank of high tech machines, occasionally pushing buttons and staring at screens, humming what Scott recognized belatedly as Brittney Spears's "Oops I Did it Again."

"Okay," Stiles said slowly as they edged into the room.

"Clearly, you've never seen Justin in the pursuit of knowledge."

"Derek!" Stiles yelped.

Scott glanced over to find Derek leaning against a wall by a folding table upon which set a meal that was steaming slightly.

"What?" Scott said.

Derek shook his head, "Justin, you did understand the part where he's a genius right? He likes learning things." He straightened up, "All right, egghead, the food's going to get cold and you've got company."

"Just a minute, Fido," Justin said, "I just need…" he tapped a few buttons and stared at another screen.

"Usually, Laura Alpha-growled him out of these phases," Derek said, he gestured, "you want to give it a try?"

"Uh," Scott hesitated; he'd never really tried to deliberately 'Alpha growl' any of the others.

"He hasn't eaten in twelve hours," Derek said, "and even then it was just a bagel."

Scott nodded and turned to look at Justin. The world took on the disjointed, red tinged auras that signified his eyes had changed even as that part of him that he thought of as 'the wolf' roused slowly. "Justin, come eat," he said firmly.

"Just," Justin began.

"Now," Scott barked, trying to channel his mom's best 'mom voice'.

Justin jerked up and stared at him, "Yes, Cap." He walked over, "Sorry, it's just, it's fascinating."

"Is that a Faraday Cage?" Stiles asked suddenly.

Derek shoved a plate of food in Justin's hands and growled at Stiles, who held up his hands, looking innocent.

Justin took a bit, glanced down at his plate and smiled, "I thought Petra was here earlier."

"She's a bit upset," Derek said. "You're going to have to calm her down."

Justin shrugged, "I'll handle it." He took another bite. "That's more than a Faraday Cage, Stiles. If my translations are correct, it's a time machine."

"Why?" Scott asked.

Justin grinned at him around a mouth of lasagna. "They're monitoring the time stream, trying to make it turn out their way. It's all experimental of course, and completely impractical."

"How do you figure?" Derek asked.

"We can't change timelines that way," Justin said, "not without massive amounts of energy on the level of a demigod, or a magic object that has centuries to build up energy and is fucking useless once it's been activated. Best they'd get is an alternate timeline where things went better for them. The only other time I've seen a timeline change be enacted was when a group went to the future, learned the bad things, and came back to fix it. Even then, the future they visited is still in existence."

"How do you know that?" Scott asked.

"We found Emma because a group of Rangers got sent to the future on accident and they learned who she _could_ become." Justin said. "That is, an isolated, insecure child who was kidnapped, tormented, and forced into a position where the only way she could free herself was to start the apocalypse. That world, currently post-apocalyptic, is still in existence. Last year, their Red ended up in the past chasing one of their villains, and most of the Samurai team ended up in the Red's present day, our possible future." He tapped the plate with his fork, "Apparently, I'm in the city the Rangers work out of, alone, and I'm pissy as hell."

"So, the, uh, demigod level energy?" Stiles asked.

"There are two or three of those, mostly undirected portals," Justin said. "The fucking Orb, though. That piece of shit needs to die in a fire." He put the now empty plate down. "Thing about this thing here though, according to their records, they'd been checking the timeline for key moments to make changes to some quote unquote 'persons of interest'. And that is the weirdest list I've ever seen."

Scott glanced at Stiles, who shrugged before asking, "Who's on the list?"

"Well, the first one, I kind of expected. It's Justin Stewart," Justin said, "but the rest of these people, they're… they're pretty much nobodies in terms of Rangers. Derek Hale, Scott McCall, Prez-"

"You mean the Pack," Stiles said quickly.

Justin glanced at Stiles, "I mean the Pack."

"Why us?" Scott asked.

"I'm still translating the 'objectives' part of their assignment, but apparently we're too badass in the future for them to handle and they want to figure out why," Justin said.

"I thought you could read all those alien languages," Scott said, "you were reading whatever it was pretty quickly last time."

"Last time, the equipment was designed to be universal, and Eltarean is the universal standard. This is written in Kerevite, which is a completely different base. It's like trying to learn Japanese when all you've really known is English. It's worse than reading Aquitian, and _their_ written language was designed to be read underwater and hasn't changed in a couple of centuries." Justin sighed, "I may need to get someone to recheck my translations."

"Do you know someone who can?" Scott asked.

"Well sure," Justin said, "Conner McKnight."

"The dino guy?" Stiles said.

Justin laughed, "Yeah, the dino guy. He has a pair of adopted kids from AdonKrev and he and his wife wanted them to keep in touch with their roots, so they learned stuff about the system. Food didn't go over well, but the language stuff seems to be working." He frowned at the machine, "I'm not asking him though. I caused enough trouble between him and Tommy already. Besides, there are other people who know more…"

Three streams of light descended from the ceiling, one was blue, one was a silvery-grey, and the last was green. They solidified and then vanished, leaving three people standing in their place. The first was a tall man with dark hair and a confident smile. He was wearing a blue shirt, black pants, and black boots. Beside him was a silvery-blond wearing a black uniform with a silver shirt that Scott recognized after a moment as Zhane, the Silver Astro Ranger. The third person was shorter than the other two, was dressed in a green version of the first guy's clothes, and had vibrant green hair and a green gem on his forehead.

"Zhane!" Justin yelped and tackle hugged the Silver Ranger.

Zhane laughed and hugged him back just as eagerly, "Did you think I wasn't going to come? We have more brothers."

"I know," Justin said, stepping back, "it's insane. You'll love them. We'll have to introduce you later, how long are you staying? Will you be here for Christmas or can you come back? I'm taking everyone to meet Dad on Boxing Day."

"Hey," Zhane said, "we can catch up, we've got time. Karone's not back from her trip yet, so I was thinking that when we brought these two back, I'd get the kids from Ashley and come back for Christmas. But, we can discuss that later. You said you needed these two."

"Yeah," Justin said.

"Justin?" Scott said.

Justin glanced at him, "Oh, right, sorry. Um first, this is Zhane, my brother. You remember Derek, Zhane."

"Of course," Zhane said and took three swift strides and hugged Derek tightly. Derek hugged him back, looking resigned. Then Zhane stepped back, gripping Derek's biceps, "I sorrow for your sorrows, Derek Hale. May the path of shadows be short and the light swift in its coming."

"Thank you," Derek said quietly.

"She was a wonderful woman," Zhane said, "if you ever, _ever_ need anything Derek, you let me know. The debt didn't end with her death."

Derek nodded and stepped back. Zhane let him go and turned, looking at Justin expectantly.

"So," Justin said, "this is Scott McCall, our Alpha."

Zhane nodded and Scott found himself frozen as Zhane pinned him with a long stare. His silver eyes looked not just _at_ him, but also _into_ him. When Zhane blinked and smiled, Scott knew he'd seen more than just the obvious.

"So you're the kid Justin's been complaining about," Zhane said, grinning at Justin. "Not bad things, really; Justin just hates to be reminded that he's not thirty yet."

"False!" Justin yelped, pointing at Zhane, "Curse you for your inevitable betrayal."

"I'm your big brother, it's in the job description," Zhane said. Then he looked at Scott again, "You're sixteen, right?"

"Yes sir," Scott managed after a moment, "In November."

"Lucky," Zhane said, then looked at Stiles. "You would be Stiles then."

"Yeah," Stiles said.

"It took me three months to figure out that you weren't another 'wolf," Zhane said. "I think you disappointed Justin when you didn't ask for the Bite."

"I'm not disappointed," Justin said quickly, "I just thought it was a shame that your experience was with Peter and not a decent and _sane_ Alpha." He clapped his hands together, "To continue the introductions," he paused and looked at the other two, who seemed amused but confused. "Are you two…"

"I'm Lucas," blue shirt said, "Lucas Kendall, my teammate is Trip Regis of Xybria. We were the Time Force Blue and Green Rangers."

"You're an alien?" Stiles said, pointing at Trip. "An actual alien."

"Technically, so is Zhane," Justin said with a shrug. "Lucas, Trip, this is Derek Hale, Scott McCall, and Prez-"

"Stiles!" Stiles yelped, "I'm Stiles Stilinski."

"It's a shame Jen couldn't be here," Lucas said, "I mean, she's not a Lycan, but she's Pack born. You guys figure pretty big in Pack History."

"We do?" Scott asked, frowning at him.

"Well, you're a True Alpha, that would warrant mention even if all you ever did afterwards was be a good Alpha," Lucas said. "I don't know too much else personally, I'm not Pack born."

"Besides," Justin said, "I did want Trip to look at the tech. It sounds like what Time Force used, except, well, prehistoric."

He gestured to the computers and Trip nodded, following him over.


	2. Chapter 2

It was quiet as the clock passed one a.m., a relief from the day's mutter of voices, footsteps, and heartbeats as the pack explored the facility. Justin had heard Scott, Derek, and Petra discussing what they would do with the place, but he'd put the conversation aside for his work. There was so much to translate, each of the time travel reports he'd uncovered consisted of pages of minutiae over what had been done by SPD in their quest to disrupt what their paperwork called 'The McHale Pack'. Justin thought the name had a certain ring to it and Trip and Lucas both had mentioned that Jen would be interested.

"That's the last of it," Lucas said quietly.

"Are you sure?" Justin asked, putting down his reader and looking at the other blue ranger.

"Five trips," Lucas said. His eyes were blood shot and he was pale under his dusky skin tone.

"I'm not putting the Pack through the fifth," Justin said shortly.

"Justin," Lucas said.

"Ten years ago," Justin said, he hesitated, "ten years ago, I had a visit from myself. I was twenty-four and, I thought at the time, amazing. He told me that he'd come back to warn me that my life was about to become horrible, but that I needed to hang on. If I made it past my seventeenth birthday party, my suffering would be worth it. Said a few other things too, about why my life would be bad, things that helped me hang on. I knew someone thought the Pack and I were too awesome to exist and wanted to break us up, but I didn't know… I didn't know we were Pack, he used a different word. I didn't know what we'd become." He touched the reader, "I didn't know people had come from the future specifically to stop my Pack."

"Justin," Lucas said.

Justin banged his fist on the console, "Dammit, Lucas, this is my _Pack._ They targeted us, and I don't really care why. Look at what they did! They stopped things and started things, I lost Dad because of them. Derek lost _everything._ And they're going to get away with it!"

"What's going on?" Trip slurred from behind Justin, and he flinched slightly. The green ranger had dozed off after finally calibrating the machine for him. Justin had been louder than he'd intended if he'd woken his friend.

"Sorry Trip," Justin said, "I didn't mean to be so loud."

"What are you going to do?" Lucas asked.

Justin ran a hand through his hair and grimaced at the feel of it. "I'm going to take a shower and sleep, see my son off to school, and then we're going to test the machine."

"And by test, you're using it," Lucas said.

"I'm going to have a chat with myself at fourteen," Justin said with a grim smile. "You'll help won't you?"

"Of course," Lucas and Trip said in unison.

"We'll meet back here at nine," Justin said and stepped away.

/././.\\.\\.\

Isaac had been Justin's for less than a year, and every time Isaac looked at him with that wounded look, Justin wanted to swallow wolf's bane. "You've been busy," Isaac said as he toyed with his eggs.

"It's not an excuse," Justin replied. "I forgot, I've got family to be with now." He reached over and rested his hand beside Isaac's arm, "You have to remind me more that you're around. I know better than to get this wrapped up in something."

"But it was worth it, right?" Isaac said.

"I don't know," Justin said carefully, cautiously. "I have to explain it all to Scott, but… it's not good. It's… it's a bit horrifying." He paused and reached for the salt, "Maybe that's a bit hypocritical of me, but, what they've done."

"We're going to do something about it, aren't we?" Isaac asked.

"That's as much up to Scott as anything," Justin said as he carefully salted his eggs. "We're not done testing everything just yet. Whatever we do, if we're going to do anything, we need a working time machine."

"Best phrase ever," Isaac said. Justin glanced at him. "Working time machine. Can we go back and retake our finals? I feel like I'm going to bomb chemistry."

"Do your best," Justin said, "and if you do fail, I'll round you up a tutor and we'll retake it as a home school option, like Malia and the twins are doing. I was thinking, I'd talk to the other parents about everyone doing their science classes with personal instructors. Seriously, Harris was a crap teacher and that bitch darach did us _all_ a favor. I actually checked with the high school when you came to stay with me, and it's an option."

"Really?" Isaac said, "Can you get me out of Algebra?"

Justin chuckled, "What are you having trouble with? Aren't you not taking a math class this semester?"

"I'm not," Isaac said, "but I have to take either Algebra II or Geometry next semester, and I'm almost as bad as math as I am science."

"Well," Justin said, "You might want to talk to Derek about Geometry, he's the best of us there, and I'm handy with Algebra. Let's take a look at the school first."

"Okay," Isaac sighed.

"Hey, if you wanted to go full time homeschool, you totally can," Justin said, "Between me and the others, we could make sure you were being properly taught, I just thought you'd want to stick with Scott."

Isaac smiled, "Yeah, thanks for that." He toyed with his bacon for a moment, "So what are you doing today?"

Justin grinned, "I'm testing a time machine. Want me to bring you back a velociraptor?"

"Really?" Isaac asked.

"I'll see," Justin chuckled.

"I guess I should go then," Isaac said with a sigh. "Chemistry waits for no man."

"Science final?" Derek asked as he walked in from the balcony.

"No science!" Justin said sternly, pointing his fork at Derek.

"Jeez, a guy blows up his kitchen," Derek muttered.

"We remodeled three times Derek, _three times_ just because of you and Wren," Justin said.

"Really?" Isaac asked.

"Their high school chemistry teacher was big on take home projects," Justin said. "Baking projects mostly, mixing things like baking soda and vinegar together. Everyone regretted making Wren and Derek science partners that year."

Isaac snickered, "That's _awesome."_

"We weren't that bad," Derek said.

"Of course not," Justin said, "Laura just felt like celebrating your graduation with the Hale Memorial Chemistry Lab for the hell of it."

"Did he blow that up to?" Isaac asked.

"There was a full school evacuation three times," Justin said.

"Hey that reminds me," Isaac said, "Justin says you're good at geometry, Derek?"

"I might be," Derek said carefully.

"I'm taking Geometry next semester, possibly, would you mind helping me if I need it?" Isaac asked.

Derek eyed him for a moment, and Justin wondered what his friend was thinking. "I don't mind," Derek said finally.

"I'll get you the good coffee for Christmas," Justin said.

"Buy me a ton," Derek said, "somehow, I think I'm going to need it."

Justin thought of what he'd found buried in the alien archives, "Do you still have Anya's email address?"

"I thought we weren't ever contacting her again," Derek said, surprised.

"Let's just say I think next year is going to be a bad year to be sober," Justin said and stood up. "Isaac, do you want a ride to school?"

"No," Isaac said, "Stiles is picking me up."

"I might be out of touch today," Justin said, "but will you ask Scott to come by the facility this afternoon, there's something he needs to know."

"Sure, no problem," Isaac said.

"You can come too," Justin said, "but Scott needs to be there."

Isaac smiled at him just as his phone began to blare _"Ride of the Valkyries."_ Isaac scrambled to get it out of his pocket, "Have you been changing my ringtones again?" He asked in place of a hello. "Because last time, you made Justin's theme that Care Bears song and I couldn't look him in the eye for a week."

Justin could hear Stiles easily, "No, I haven't. Why?"

"Because I _liked_ your ring tone, and now it's _Ride of the Valkyries."_

"That wasn't me," Stiles said.

"What was his ring tone?" Derek muttered, catching Justin's attention.

"Macho Man," Justin said as he drained his coffee. "You can come by the facility if you want, Derek, but it's going to be boring today."

"I'm going to Briarwood today," Derek said, "finish up transferring my work over to UCB."

"Right," Justin said, "good luck with that. I'll see you later."

"See you later," Derek said.

Justin paused, "Did you need anything, or were you just meditating on my balcony because reasons?"

"Mik and Dietrich are still at the loft," Derek said, "Dietrich can't sleep through the night. It's peaceful up here."

"I see," Justin said, "in that case, don't forget that there are camping supplies in storage if you need them."

"I won't," Derek said. "Thanks Justin."

"Not a problem," Justin said. "The guest bedroom is also open to you if you need it."

"I'll remember that," Derek said.

Justin dealt with his dirty dishes and headed back out to the facility. He probably should have tracked down the twins, but Justin wasn't sure he could actually look them in the eye and play down what he was doing today. Not with what Justin had found in the records of the facilities' time travel division.

Lucas and Trip were waiting for him in the room, both of them looking rested and refreshed.

"Are you ready?" Trip asked.

"Yes," Justin said, "I'm definitely ready."

"Let's get you suited up then," Lucas said, reaching for the tracking/return device Justin would need to make his trip.

"You'll arrive in Seattle," Trip said, "We've set the coordinates for Lake Sammamish State Park, so you should arrive unnoticed."

"I'll go morphed," Justin said, "it'll cut down a bit on things if people see a Ranger, not a civilian."

"Are you sure?" Trip asked.

"I'll be fine," Justin said.

"Then let's do this," Lucas said as he fit the device to Justin's wrist.

Justin took a few steps back and pulled out his key, _"Shift into Turbo!"_

He always forgot what it was like to view the world from a HUD and not his own eyes. That and how echoingly empty his mind was.

"Are you ready?" Trip asked.

"Definitely," Justin said as he stepped onto the floor of the time machine. He turned to look at his friends and nod, "Let's do this."

He closed his eyes as a low grade humming filled his ears. After a moment he opened his eyes, and found himself standing in the middle of a forest. After a moment, his helmet's heads-up display flashed the information that the area was deserted. "

Power down," Justin said.

He pulled his phone out and checked that it was connected to the local cell tower. Then he pulled up the number for Light Speed's emergency Ranger line.

"This is the Rainbow Foundation, my name is Carrie," a cheerful woman.

"Carrie, this is Blue Turbo," Justin said. "About two minutes ago, your sensors may have detected a temporal anomaly in Lake Sammamish State Park. It was I, we're doing an experiment in 2012 with time travel. Figured I should give you a heads up before we make the six o'clock news."

"Time travel?" Carrie said, startled.

"Yes," Justin said. "I'm not planning to be here more than three hours. Got to write dirty limericks in the Seattle City Hall men's room to prove I did it." He hung up and headed for the lake.

Unlike Angel Grove Park, the Lake Sammamish State Park was overgrown and mostly wild, but Justin remembered the park. He'd been out here camping when the weather warmed up, before they'd moved. He found his way to a ranger station easily enough and stepped inside with a nervous and sheepish mask.

"Can I help you?" The park ranger on duty asked.

"I'm afraid I've gotten turned around," Justin said. "I was hiking and got a bit lost."

"Are you injured?" The ranger asked.

"No," Justin said, "I was hoping I could call for a ride, actually. I don't remember where I left my car and I thought I'd get a friend to come out and help me look."

"Sure," the ranger said, "phone's over there."

Justin glanced at the man's badge, "Thank you, Mister… Hale."

The ranger looked at him sharply. "Something wrong?"

"Well," Justin hedged, "I know of a family named Hale, but they're in California."

"My cousins," the man said. "May I assume you share their lunar connection?"

"I do," Justin said, "and you do not."

"No," Hale shook his head. "I'm Jethro Hale. Talia, Peter, and that lot are my cousins. How do you know them?"

"More by rumor and reputation," Justin said, "I'm usually on the East Coast, just came out for business. About the phone."

"Sure, sure, go ahead," Hale gestured.

Justin picked up the phone and dialed a carefully memorized number.

"Nick O'Time Odd Jobs," a rather familiar voice said cheerfully.

"Trip Regis?" Justin said, "I need to speak to Jen Scotts. My name is Justin Stewart, I'm Warden of the McHale Pack."

"Hold on," Trip said. There was rustling and voices, then a woman picked up.

"This is Jennifer Scotts."

"I know I'm a couple of years out of time," Justin said quietly and quickly. "It was mostly deliberately. We ran into a temporal issue in my time and I had to come back to take steps."

"All right," Jenn said.

"I need help arranging transport, my financials are out of date. I was hoping you'd vouch for me to Wes." Justin said.

"Sure," Jen said easily, "what do you need, exactly?"

"A car," Justin said, "and a driver. I'm at Lake Sammamish State Park in Washington. I need to go into the city to take care of things."

"Hold please," Jen said.

Justin leaned against the wall and let his head fall back for a moment, then he looked at Hale. The man had stepped outside for some reason and Justin relished his privacy.

"Justin Stewart? Wes Collins."

"Hi Wes," Justin said. "Did Jen explain things?"

"She did," Wes said carefully. "I'm willing to help you out. I have a friend in Seattle who might be willing to come get you, let me call him."

"Sure," Justin said. He glanced around the small room and spotted a business card with the ranger station number on it, "Here's my current number, it's a ranger station in the park. Let me know what's up."

"Sure, no problem," Wes said. "At some point, I'd like to meet you."

"We do," Justin said. "In about a year and a half, you talk Eric into giving my programs a shot, incidentally giving me one of my first private sector contracts, which helped me build a multimillion dollar security firm." He laughed, "You said you heard about me from Jen, actually. Suddenly it all makes sense."

"Security firm?" Wes said, "I'll remember that."

"Computers and tech mostly," Justin said, "it's a mutually beneficial arrangement. But I'll let you call your friend, I'm kind of on a time constraint."

"All right," Wes said, "I'll call you soon."

/././.\\.\\.\

The park was just as Justin remembered it, right down to the secluded beach with the perfect throwing stones, and a younger Justin Stewart defying the cold weather to skip stones. Justin leaned against one of the trees screening the beach from casual view and watched as his younger self sent a stone skipping across the water and softly counting the impacts.

"One, two, three, four…"

"Five," Justin cut in as he stepped out of the tree line. "You're getting better. Suppose that's to be expected though." He bent to pick up a flat stone and glanced over at the teenager.

"You, you're," the teen stammered, eyes wide.

"You," Justin agreed and sent his rock skimming across the lake. "You know, I was hoping we'd managed to target San Mateo in October, not Seattle in December."

"We can't always get what we want," the teen said looking down and away.

"We get what we work for," Justin said. "If you want it, you have to get it yourself."

"Did you travel back fifteen years to skip stones and give me homilies on hard work?" Teen Justin demanded.

"Nah, that's the bonus," Justin said, giving him a sly grin. He looked around and picked up another skipping rock, "Also, to tell you how awesome you are."

"Me?" The teen scoffed.

"Oh yeah," Justin said. "Look at where you are, how much you've survived. Did you know that the average life expectancy of the _halidenari_ is six months to a year? Not to mention all the stuff you went through as a Ranger. A lot of Rangers die in the uniform."

The teen shrugged, staring at the ground.

"Hey," Justin said, "Pay attention. You are awesome. You are worthy of respect. You're smart, charming, and kind where it matters most. And you're going to become exceptionally kickass over the next ten years. I'm twenty-four, okay? On the public side of things, I'm a somewhat reclusive but wealthy businessman who had to start building his own technology to handle his innovations. Kind of like a sober Tony Stark, I'm told. On the private side, Dad and I finally found a balance in our relationship although it takes a few years. I've got a wonderful _ohana_ and my brothers are unique and almost as kickass as I am. In the next few years, the _ohana's_ going to become this BAMF group that scares the pants off our greatest enemy so badly, he's going to use a time machine prototype to try to prevent it from happening. That's why I'm here."

"I'm never getting out of the Ranger stuff, am I?" The teen said.

"Only one member of the _ohana_ is actually a Ranger besides you," Justin said, "the rest, well, it's nice to have a few surprises in life and that's a good one. As for the Rangers, well, you need to establish boundaries. Decide what you're willing to accept from them. Also, ask them for help, even sometimes when you think you don't need it. Showing Tommy and the others that you're going to ask for help means that they'll trust you to ask when you need it. Besides, do you want to give up Zhane?"

"No!"

"Exactly." Justin kept his tone firm. "You have to set down your boundaries and make them respect them. Also, know when to be flexible, because having someone call you up about Ranger tech by calling Adam to call you is a little ridiculous after the first time."

"That happens?"

"Oh yeah," Justin chuckled, then fell silent. "The bad guys, they're Ranger related. Except they messed with the _ohana._ We won't let them get away with that, so we're going to go after them. That's what scared them, I think, and since they're clearly lacking two brain cells to rub together, they've done the exact things that put us on them in the first place."

"What will they do?"

Justin sighed, "Try to keep us apart mostly. There are some people who need help we can't provide with time travel, so I've sent a letter to people who can and will help. Some of it, Zordon forgive me, some of it, we have to let happen, because what they thought they were changing only made us who we are today." He thought of Laura and Derek, and how the fire and changed them. "You're different. Because it hasn't started yet, what they're planning to do. I could stop it, I could tell you to run, to hide, and to get out. I _could."_

"I wouldn't let you."

"No, we don't run. Ever. That's why I'm here." Justin pulled his sleeve back and stared at his wrist, remembering the cut. "I tried to kill myself once, because of it all. I knew, I _knew_ why this happened, what they were trying to do." He glanced at his younger self, "I have a therapist now, he keeps all of my secrets and he's not related to the Rangers except through me. When I finally told him all of it, he called it systematic psychological torture."

"Whoa."

"Thing is, up until that moment, I had hope. I just… got a little lost. See, it's only going to last three years, the torture. After that, you'll have the _ohana._ At least, you'll have most of it. They'll keep you safe just by existing. The bad guys won't be able to get past them to act, and she was too damn stubborn to let them make her doubt me."

"Your wife?"

"No," Justin shook his head. He smiled sadly, "I told Zhane once that she was our queen."

He fiddled with his phone for a minute, then let the teen see the screen. "That's Isaac, I adopted him. His father was a complete asshole."

"Cool."

"He's a good kid, lots of defensive walls, but worth it." Justin flipped the screen again, paused, then flipped on, "And this is Sour Wolf." He showed the picture, "Good fighter, bad at common sense and science."

The teen chuckled.

The last photo he showed the teen was his favorite. "That's your little sister, Kimmie. Dad will get remarried again, to a very nice woman. She doesn't try to be Mom, but if you let her, she can be a friend."

"A little sister?"

"Yeah. Too young to see how awesome she's going to be, but everyone agrees she's got the Stewart smile." Justin smiled at the picture.

"I need to go," the teen said suddenly, "Dad will worry if I'm late."

"I should go to," Justin said. "Justin, there is one thing you have to remember though. There will come a point you're going to have to decide between the expectations of others and what's right for you. You have to, have to, _have to,_ pick what's right for you. It's so incredibly important. Can you remember that?"

"Sure," the teen lifted his chin, "I'll remember that, and what's more, when the time comes, I'll _do_ it."

"Great," Justin said as he pulled up the app that would allow him to create a time portal home. "Crap, one more thing. Don't worry when you trip at graduation. In ten years, they'll all be more eager to remember how fucking rich you are as opposed to how stupid you looked once."

"What?"

Justin smirked as he stepped through the portal, wondering how long it would take the teen to realize that Justin never went to high school reunions, because they weren't worth going to.

/././.\\.\\.\

Justin stumbled as he left the portal, not expecting the drop. Looking up, he noted that Scott, Isaac, _and_ Derek were waiting with Lucas and Trip.

"How was school?" Justin asked, trying to act casual, "The final go okay?"

"Don't know yet," Isaac said uncomfortably, "Where did you go?"

"Seattle," Justin said, "had to skip some rocks, ruin any desire for Apple products, and made sure I survived to meet Laura."

"Explain," Scott said shortly.

Justin sighed, "SPD targeted me specifically. I think they found my medical records. They were trying to drive me to kill myself, but they didn't succeed entirely. I held up a lot longer than they expected because I knew I'd meet the pack one day. When I was fourteen, a sad, intense, and _interesting_ older self showed up one day and spent time telling me how awesome I was, and how much better I'd become. I had hope for the future because I knew it would be great. I spent three years being psychologically tortured, and I didn't break, not the way they wanted me to, because I went today."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Scott asked.

"Because I didn't want you to know," Justin said gently. "I didn't really want anyone to know except Lucas and Trip. What I went through, what they did, it was fucked up and wrong on so many levels, but I survived, and I'm better. I've had seven years to get better. Between the three of you Alphas, they haven't gotten close enough to try anything, so I've been able to heal and get better."

He glanced at Derek for a moment, "Besides, there are four other incidents that we can change, that we practically _have_ to change. And there's one that I'd like to fuck with just because I can."

"Tell me about them," Scott said, "let's see what's going on."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I think this chapter qualifies as a hot mess, because I realized towards the end that I couldn't follow through as originally intended. There's too much going into this to be a knock off chapter. It's going to be told, in full, from Wren's pov after Reconstruction's done. It was fun to explore Ethan's mind though. For those who want to comment on references, during in Space, the Astro Rangers visit Degobah, and in Lost Galaxy, they pass an asteroid field with the same coordinates as Galifrey. (Not sure about the Astros, but I know the Galaxy ep had the word Green in it)

* * *

Ethan kind of liked routines. Unlike Aidan, who thrived better under chaos, Ethan liked to know things would be just so in his life. He was neat, and picked up after Aidan, and probably would have been a castellan in another life. He liked that, and he especially liked that Danny was okay that he'd get up to get a warm washrag and end up folding the clothing that had gotten a bit scattered around the room along the way.

Still, Ethan liked routines and order, and things being normal.

Normal with Justin was proving to be some ordered chaos, especially if Justin needed to stress test some new idea that needed to be installed, but mostly quiet. Justin kept his work separated from his home as a rule, unless he was fixing something in the house the most Ethan saw from Justin's work was a new panel on the wall-of-tech in the living room or a stack of patent forms covered with sticky notes and brilliantly colored arrows.

It was not normal for Ethan to hear country music echoing in their private elevator.

"Do you hear that?" Aidan asked.

"Country music," Ethan said.

"Why?" Isaac blurted out and flushed a little when Ethan glanced at him.

"This is… new," Ethan said carefully, sliding his hand up and down his backpack strap.

Aidan reached over and caught his wrist gently, "Probably the New Yorkers up to something. It's okay."

Ethan twisted his wrist free, but also let go of the strap, aware that Isaac was watching them again. "But, it's country," Ethan muttered.

As the elevator reached the top, it was clear that the music was coming from Justin's apartment. Ethan let Aidan go first, trying not to let Isaac see how nervous the change in routine was making him. Aidan opened the door and hesitated, making Ethan crowd closer to see what was happening inside.

Justin was cleaning one of the floor to ceiling windows in the living room, with one of the New Yorkers, Petra, standing on his shoulders and cleaning the top of the window. As the teens watched, Justin stepped back and carefully turned so that Petra could jump off his shoulders with a soft laugh. Justin shook his head and glanced across the living room to the couches.

"Hey, I can't see," Isaac said softly, bumping Ethan's shoulder.

Ethan pushed Aidan further into the apartment to where he could see the couches clearly. Derek was on one of the couches, chin on his chest, and arms wrapped around the other two New Yorkers, Wren and Mik, who both had their heads on his chest. All of them were clearly sleeping.

"Hey guys," Justin said softly with a wave, "We've been… cleaning."

Petra snickered a little as she picked up a couple of spray bottles. "How was school?"

"Fine," Isaac said carefully.

"Math blows," Aidan said.

Ethan just shrugged as he glanced around the room. It looked a little less like a bomb had exploded in the room and little more like it had been professionally designed, but he could still see the star-like scorch mark on the floor by the dining table and the somewhat obvious patch from where he'd put his elbow through the wall on accident.

"You okay?" Justin asked.

Ethan blinked, wondering how his brother had gotten so close. "Fine," he said. "I'm fine. Place looks good."

Justin smiled, "We didn't touch your rooms. If you want them clean, you'll have to do that yourself."

Something in Ethan relaxed and he nodded.

"The cookies!" Petra said, dropping the spray bottles on the dining room table and running for the kitchen.

"Petra made her secret chocolate and peanut butter cookies," Justin said with a mischievous grin and a wink, "I think she's trying to bribe you guys into liking her."

"I heard that," Petra said.

"I hid the buckthorn," Justin replied with a laugh.

"So you want me to season with wolfsbane then," Petra said. "I have a pizza recipe it might add a little pizazz to."

Ethan glanced at Aidan, _are they dating or something?_

"Not dating," Justin said, making Ethan jump. "Sorry, but no, Petra and I are not dating."

"He's not my type," Petra said as she came out of the kitchen with a small plate. "Fresh cookies, better get some before the terrors wake up."

"Too late," Wren said and did some complicated flip over the back of the couch. "Cookies!"

"Save some for the actual teenagers, Wren," Petra said as she offered the blonde the plate.

"Thanks Petra," Wren said and kissed Petra's cheek. "You're the best!"

Ethan shook his head and reached over to tug on Aidan's backpack, "Let me put that in your room, you get the cookies." Aidan grinned at him as he let the bag slide off his shoulder. Ethan swung the bag over his free shoulder with a smirk. "I know, I'm awesome."

There had been some debate about where Aidan and Ethan would stay after Scott became the Alpha, they were under eighteen and technically without a legal guardian with hunters on their tail. Then Justin had showed up, asked if they'd trust him to help out and Aidan had said yes. Three days later, Justin had installed them in bedrooms in his apartment as their legal guardians and provided them with an apartment on the reserved floor where Derek and his New York friends lived for privacy.

The apartment had been nice in the beginning, Ethan thought, when they had been at the snap and snarl stage with Isaac, but as they had dealt with the Nogitsune, and the facility, things between them had changed. Maybe it wasn't pack, or family, but Ethan honestly felt that they could be friends with Isaac. It was worth trying, at least.

"Ethan! Hurry up!" Justin called.

Ethan shook his head, tossed Aidan's bag in his room quickly and putting his bag on his bed. "Coming!" He shouted.

The others were still in the living room. Derek and Mik were awake and sharing cookies with Wren on the couch while Isaac lounged on the futon and listened to them. Aidan was setting glasses of milk at the dining room table where Justin and Petra were waiting.

Justin and Petra exchanged a look as Ethan sat down beside Aidan. "You've been updated about the time machine," Petra said as she slid a plate of cookies closer to the twins.

"Some," Ethan said, picking up a cookie. He bit into it and nearly groaned as a complicated explosion of peanut butter and chocolate exploded over his tongue. He closed his eyes and let the taste play over his tongue for a long moment. Then he opened his eyes and took in Petra's pleased smile. "These are really good," he told her.

"Thank you Ethan," Petra said. "I like to experiment sometimes with baked goods."

Justin cleared his throat uncomfortably, "About the time machine." Ethan looked at his brother, wondering why Justin looked so nervous. "The facility, it wasn't just about the kids, or the tests. It was about our pack, who we are, and who we can become. They were studying us, werewolves, druids, vampires, and a child of the Stewart bloodlines. I don't know about the vampires, but the rest? They wanted to understand what we are. They've also been studying us, our childhoods. They found some of my medical records and went after me. I've gone back and done what needed to be done, but there's more. There are things that we need to do in the past to stop what they're doing."

"We're going to be time traveling?" Ethan asked.

"Yes," Justin said, "but there's a problem. Time travel, and changing the past, it's not easy. Time isn't linear."

"It's a wibbly wobbly, timey-wimey ball of stuff?" Aidan offered.

Justin growled and his eyes flashed, then Petra reached over, took a cookie, and shoved it in Aidan's half open mouth.

"As I was saying," Justin said, "Time isn't linear, although most people experience it that way, with no idea that their lives are changed and redirected by the actions of a few. For instance, a girl and her boy escape their respectively abusive families because a friendly couple gives them a lift across the country." Petra offered.

"What does that have to do with us?" Ethan asked.

"Danny and Lydia gave me and a friend a lift to New York," Petra added.

"We know now that coming up behind Lydia and Danny was Kate Argent," Justin said, "sent that way on a tip about a couple of Omegas being 'chased' out of pack territory. There's a catch however, as in yes, we're going to ask you to do something, but before you go, there's something you have to know."

"What?" Aidan asked.

"SPD was involved in your lives," Justin said quietly. "They pushed that asshole Alpha into murdering his father for the Alpha spark. His father wanted your mom to be his Heir. He hadn't told anyone yet, but the asshole found out. SPD probably told him. He killed his dad for the Spark and told your pack it was Hunters." He shifted slightly, "It's something that we cannot change for you. You've been shaped by that asshole as much as by Deucalion. You wouldn't be here, as you are, without your experiences. If we let you go back to change it, you'd still be here when you came back, in _this_ present. There would be another set of twins in another timeline experiencing the change you created."

"SPD also helped with the Hale House Fire," Petra said, "they made sure that Kate's chemicals burned. We can't change that either."

"Why are you telling us?" Ethan whispered.

"Because you deserve to know," Justin said. "Because SPD made a mistake. By making the asshole an Alpha, they've created you. You are the exact people SPD is afraid of, and whatever it is you'll do that makes them so afraid? It's because of what you survived, what you experienced, and who you choose to become." He tapped the table for a moment. "I want to go back and stop Kate. I want to see how the world changes without her. Not just the _fire_ but all of it, all the wolves she didn't have to kill, all the families she gleefully destroyed."

"Stop her how?" Aidan asked.

Justin bared his teeth, "I'm going to hand her over to a few people I know. They're not nice people, but they're good allies. Saved my life a time or two. Be interesting to see what they end up doing with her. Originally they were going to send her to a prison planet that makes Hoth look like a tropical island."

"Hoth, like in Star Wars?" Isaac asked suddenly as he settled down at the table.

Justin sat back, smirking at them. "Something like that." He pointed at Isaac, "Spring break, we'll go out to KO-35 and a couple of other places. See the galaxies kind of deal."

"Really?" Ethan said.

"Sure," Justin said. "Zhane and I know all the best places."

Ethan glanced at Aidan, suddenly realizing some of the opportunities they had with _Power Rangers_ as their older brothers.

"What about Liam?" Ethan asked.

"We'll negotiate with his mom," Justin said, "I'm sure she'll be talked around easily enough."

"What about the rest of the Pack?" Isaac asked.

Justin raised his eyebrows and leaned forward, propping his head up on his elbows. "Well, that one will have to depend on what's going on, and how many of the other parents are going to be happy with me taking their children off planet. It might be better to wait until this summer for a full adventure, also give Melissa and John time to get time off from their jobs because we'll need more chaperone types, given that I don't know if the cubs should go off planet. They don't have all the protections we can give you guys against space diseases after all."

"I remember, you took Laura with once, didn't you?" Petra said, "Because she got sick."

"Right," Justin said. "Zhane and I can get you guys all immunized and everything pretty easily, but the cubs are a different matter."

"When did you take Laura?" Derek asked.

"The year you went to college, because she was so upset that you were gone. It wasn't much. Zhane and I just took her out for an evening. I didn't even think about the part where we should have considered her tolerance to Earthian illnesses wouldn't necessarily cover space going ones. Between my Ranger powers and being a werewolf, I've got universal immunity. We tested it a few years ago via simulation." Justin rolled his shoulders, "But that's not really important, and there's kind of a war going on out there that I wouldn't want to get you guys involved in."

"Right," Wren said, "time travel."

"What do you need us to do?" Aidan asked after a moment.

"Go back to the night Wren moved into the Pack House and made sure she gets there safely," Justin said.

"Well, I was kind of running away," Wren said as she snagged a cookie. "My stepfather… he wasn't a very nice person."

"Does anyone in this pack have a happy background?" Ethan muttered.

The room was quiet for a long moment, then Justin snorted. "Well, that depends on whose point of view you're looking at. Yeah, my mom died and the Ranger stuff was bad, but I was never beaten. Dad might have had a horrible grief spiral made worse by the intervention of SPD agents, but he loved me then, and he still does love me. We just work better without me being dependent on him."

"Back to what needs to be done," Wren said, "We can land you in Central Park. Manhattan is neutral ground for the local packs, but you'll need to call the Brooklyn Alpha, Sam Lynn, and let him know you're there. We've spoken to him _now_ and he told us what you need to say _then._ My stepfather, Daniel Carmichael and I shared an apartment in Brooklyn, which is where you'll need to be to meet up with me. Justin says he can give you three hours to get in position."

"Not to mention money for a taxi," Justin said, "at least, that's what I would do. We'll give you Wren's address, you give it to the taxi driver, then follow Wren out to Staten Island. There's a park near the old Pack House you can use to transfer back from. I remember seeing the odd energy surge, but Lightspeed told me not worry about it." He paused, "Shit, fucking _Lightspeed._ "

"What about it?" Petra asked.

"We'll have to let them know something," Justin said. "I told them last time I was tagging the bathrooms at city hall to prove I'd done it." He rolled his eyes as Petra raised her eyebrows, "I was going off the cuff. I'll call them before you two go and see what they need."

"Do they know what we're doing?" Derek asked.

"Nope," Justin said. "Carter and Shane granted me the facility once we reclaimed it. I told them I wouldn't let Lightspeed on my territory and they backed me up to Colonel Mitchell and Elder Himself. Since I am the acknowledge Elder Blue, and I had most of the Seniors backing me, Himself didn't really have a leg to stand on."

"Elder Himself?" Petra said.

Justin sighed and ran his hand through his hair, "Just the usual bull, Petra."

They _all_ heard the thump of Justin's heart at that lie.

"Justin," Derek said cautiously.

Justin closed his eyes and stood up, "There's Ranger stuff going down. I don't have all the details yet, but it sounds bad. Troy's team went off planet to get the full story with a couple of others, so we'll see when they get back. It's nothing to do with the Pack. We've got our own problems." He headed for the kitchen, "Anyone else want a snack? The cookies were good, but I'm craving chicken nuggets."

"I'm in," Liam called, "thank you."

"Any other requests?" Justin asked.

Aidan glanced at Ethan, and tilted his head a little. Ethan could practically hear Aidan chanting _steak, steak, steak,_ and he sighed. "Are there any of those steak fingers from last night?" Ethan called, "Because that's what Aidan wants."

"What about you?" Justin asked.

"Someone told me we were having Mexican tonight," Ethan said, "I'm willing to wait for that."

"I'll start cooking in about an hour," Petra said.

Ethan smiled at her and turned to Aidan, "What are you really thinking?" He asked quietly.

"I think time travel sounds kind of cool," Aidan said, catching Ethan's eyes. It was again words without words, Ethan _knew_ that Aidan wanted this, wanted to travel through time especially. He also knew that if Aidan thought Ethan didn't want it, he'd take a deep breath and look for an alternative.

Ethan looked at the plate of cookies, snatching the last one out from under Derek. He broke the cookie in half and offered part of it to Aidan. "Nerd."

Aidan grinned, "Hey Justin, when are we going to do this thing?"

"Tomorrow after school," Justin called back.

/./././.\\.\\.\\.\

The portal snapped shut behind them and Ethan sighed. "Next time, we're going to plan that better." He yawned, bracing himself as Aidan leaned into him.

"Everything okay?" Justin asked as he turned from the console to look them over.

"Just tired," Aidan said. "It was _fantastic."_

"No more Doctor Who quotes," Ethan muttered, "there's a reason she thought we were crazy."

Wren, perched on one of the chairs, snickered. "I did trust you easier though, you have to admit that. Thanks for what you did for me."

"You'd do the same," Aidan yawned.

"For us," Ethan said.

"Come on," Justin said, "grab some shut eye in the dorms before you fall down. Allons-y."

"I'm going to rip your throat out, with my teeth," Ethan muttered as he headed for the door, half dragging, half-steering Aidan along. Nerds."


	4. Chapter 4

The woods were mostly the same, Justin thought as he looked around. It was brighter than he'd anticipated, not just from the sunlight, but the atmosphere. It felt like he stood in a different forest entirely, even the smells were different in some undefinable way. Justin looked around, soaking in the feel of the preserver with an active werewolf pack, and wondered how hard it would be to bring it back to his own people.

He glanced at his companions, Boyd was looking up at the tree tops, almost in awe, while Mik and Wren were watching him.

"This is private property."

Justin turned to find a pair of men standing behind him. The first he recognized all too well, it was Peter. He held himself very still, terrified that he'd do something stupid and end up killing the wolf. The other man was clearly a relative of Derek and Laura, in that he had Derek's insane eye color and Laura's chin.

"My name is Vernon Boyd," Boyd said, "I'm the Envoy of the McCall Pack. My companions are Justin, our Warden, Wren, our Stewart, and Mik, a beta. We need to speak with Alpha Hale, it's an emergency. Your pack is in danger."

"I can't say I've ever heard of the McCall Pack," Peter mused.

Justin snarled softly, calling their attention, "You have a choice. Take us to Talia now, or I will destroy you and then go to Talia on my own. Make your choice."

"Peter," the other beta said, "we'll take them to Talia." He offered his hand, "I'm Zackery Hale, Talia is my wife. This is Peter Hale."

"Oh, we know exactly who Peter Hale is," Wren said with a cheerful smile.

"I wasn't aware I was famous," Peter said.

Mik muttered something in German and Justin snorted, "What he said."

"Is there a reason you seem to hate my packmate?" Zackery asked.

Boyd shook his head slightly, "Hopefully we'll be able to settle things with Alpha Hale, if you would conduct us."

"Of course," Zackery said, "follow me."

They headed through the woods to the Hale House, with Zackery and Peter leading, and Boyd just behind them. Justin was surprised to find himself flanked by Wren and Mik. He glanced at Wren, who shook her head slightly with a sad smile. Mik bumped his shoulder and Justin tilted his head at the younger man. Mik tilted his head and murmured, "Even if you're ready, I'm kind of really not."

"We have to be," Justin replied as his phone buzzed. "Hold on a minute," he called softly as he took his phone out.

"Does that even work?" Wren asked.

Justin grinned at her, "Finally got the signal straight. It works anywhere I need it to work, and no roaming charges." He pulled up the scan apps and frowned slightly as he read through the messages, "I don't suppose you have video surveillance in the trees," he said finally.

"No," Zackery said, sounding puzzled.

"Hold on," Justin said. He shifted through the app, sending quick commands to the cameras. "Sorry, but someone is spying on you. There's a camera up there," he pointed to one of the pines to his left. "Not sure what it picks up from that angle, but it's there."

"Got it," Mik said, and was scrambling up the tree moments later. "Do you want I should bring it down, or are we spoofing them?"

Justin glanced at Zackery, "Your territory."

Zackery bit his lip, "What does spoof mean?"

"Means that I can make the cameras show what I want them to see," Justin said, "I can loop a short, blank recording so all they see is an empty forest as long as I want. I'm not sure where it's broadcasting to, but it's a couple hundred feet if they want any kind of decent signal. And whatever's receiving is probably a dead drop, maybe twenty-four hours' worth of recordings, forty-eight tops. They'd have to pick it up personally, so wherever that signal goes, it's someplace you wouldn't visit all that often or you'd notice." He waved his hand, "After we speak with the Alpha, I can help you set up some protections against this stuff." He paused, "Or, I can give you contact info for a guy I know who does this for a living."

"Seriously?" Wren asked as Boyd snorted.

"It's not like he couldn't use the business," Justin said, "and for all the trouble us 'wolves bring to the equation, it also would protect him and get him away from dependency on the color-coded idiots."

"You do know you're one of them right?" Mik asked before jumping out of the tree.

"I'm not an idiot," Justin replied. "And that's a worry for after our conversation with Alpha Hale."

Zackery sighed, "I hope this meeting is going to clear up things."

Justin chuckled, "Welcome to my world."

They emerged from the trees to the Hale House and Justin paused, with Mik and Wren a step behind him. Justin had never seen the house in its full glory, a gleaming white colonial style meant to be fortress and home for an old pack. He'd seen the ruins of what once was, falling to ash and dust, and he'd seen six years' worth of designs from Derek as to what could be, but this was amazing. This was what Laura had cried over and what sent Derek into rages, why Cora had come back to Beacon Hills.

"Everything all right?" Peter asked.

Justin stamped down on the growl in his throat, but let his eyes change, "Just fucking peachy." Then he stalked forward, with Mik and Petra a step behind. Even now, he wasn't going to give Peter the time of day or the benefit of the doubt. There was too much that had happened for him to trust even the supposedly sane Peter Hale of six years ago.

Instead he focused on the house, on the porch where a dark-haired woman waited for them. She wore a dress, her hair long and unbound, and there was an aura of no-nonsense command that Justin knew he could responded to easily, but then he remembered the floppy haired, crooked jawed Alpha he'd committed to, and straightened his spine. They were here for Scott as much as any of the others.

"Alpha Hale," Boyd said and bowed his head.

"Envoy," Talia said quietly.

"I apologize for our unannounced arrival," Boyd said, "but there wasn't a way we could get in contact you. We need to speak to you on a matter of great importance." He hesitated, "What we need to tell you isn't pleasant, but to do nothing would be to allow the Hale Pack to be destroyed."

Talia nodded slightly, "Come inside then. Would you mind if my daughter Laura joins us?"

Boyd glanced at Justin, who nodded. "That would be fine, Alpha Hale."

"Is Derek here?" Wren asked, "Because it might be better if he weren't."

"Derek is in town with some friends," Talia said, now looking at Wren.

"Sorry," Wren said, but Justin knew she wasn't repentant at all. This whole thing would work best if Derek were kept out of it as much as possible.

They entered the house and Justin tried not to stare. There were photos everywhere, old and new. He knew Laura had some pictures she'd managed to collect, but compared to what he could see on just one set of shelves, Laura didn't even have an eighth of the pictures she used to have.

"Mom?"

Justin froze, and Mik and Wren moved to flank him, Mik with their shoulders pressed firmly together and Wren tangling their fingers together for mutual reassurance.

"It's all right, Laura," Talia said. "We have guests from another pack. Why don't you come down and join us?

Justin focused on his breathing as someone came down the stairs behind him. He wanted to turn around, wanted to see _his_ Alpha, but he couldn't. Knowing that she wouldn't know him, might never know him, he was terrified to look. Wren was trembling, nearly vibrating, and Mik had his eyes closed and was barely breathing.

"Are you all right?" Zackery asked.

"They'll be okay," Boyd said, "but we should probably show you our… other credentials before we go into that. Justin, you ready?"

"No," Justin said as he carefully freed himself from Wren's grasp. "But I'm doing it anyways." He moved to give himself plenty of room, carefully not looking at Laura, but focusing instead on Talia and Zackery. "I will say that if you tell anyone about _this,_ my people will immediately provide equal information and proof about werewolves to the media. My first Alpha called a mutual destruction pact." Then he pulled out his Turbo key and braced for impact.

"Shift into Turbo! Mountain Blaster Turbo Power!"

Now he could look at Laura, hidden behind the helmet of a power ranger. She was seventeen and innocent and it was like getting kicked in the groin. Justin had never seen Laura without even a hint of grief to her. Even at her happiest moments, Laura had always grieved what had been taken from her. This Laura, she was stunned and awed, even excited, but there was no sense of grief. She didn't know him, but then Justin realized that he didn't know her either.

"You're a power ranger," Talia Hale said, bringing Justin out of his thoughts.

"Yes, I am," Justin said and pulled his helmet off. The suit would muffle his heart, but he knew they'd still get scent readings with the helmet gone. "My name is Justin Stewart of Earth, Blue Turbo Ranger, and Warden of the McCall Pack. My older brother is Zhane of KO-35, Silver Astro Ranger. My packmates and I have come here from the future to change time itself."

"Why?" Peter asked.

Justin glared at him, "Two reasons, one, because what will happen to the Hale Pack creates the McCall Pack, which will become the McHale Pack. And the McHale Pack will become so utterly badass that even Ranger villains will try to stop them from being created by way of time travel. And two, I live in a time where you, Peter Hale, murdered my Alpha, Laura Hale, because of the psychotic break you suffered after the Hale Pack tragedy."

Zackery snarled, but Talia pressed her hand into his arm and he hesitated. "Maybe we should sit down. This sounds like it's a long story."

They settled around the dining room table, and Justin was hard pressed not to keep staring at the room, and all the little pieces that Laura and Derek had lost, that Laura had tried to replace, but never could.

"Now, what happened?" Talia said earnestly.

Justin turned back to her, "This is the month of April, Laura's senior year, right?"

"Right," Talia said.

"In the timeline we inhabit, six years ago, during Laura and Derek's last week of school, the pack is trapped inside the Hale house and burned alive. Laura and Derek went to school early for the last track team meeting of the year, but everyone else was at the house. We learned about four months ago that Cora was captured by the arsonists and held prisoner for a while before escaping and hiding in South America, but only Talia and Peter were pulled out of the house. Talia died of her wounds in the hospital and Peter was comatose."

"Everyone?" Laura asked.

"Everyone," Justin replied quietly. He paused, "Well, there's your human cousin who's estranged from the pack, but we've declined to locate her because there is a warrant for her arrest and past history indicates she'd suicide by cop rather than go to jail."

Talia's lips thinned at that. "And you know who caused this tragedy?"

Justin nodded, "I do. However, we've agreed that simply going after this one Hunter would only lead to trouble we're not prepared to avert. We have a plan that will not only take down this Hunter, but another Hunter, who is actually worse."

"Believe me," Wren said, "Knowing what we know, I'd love to just run off and dig my claws into that one until there's nothing left to identify her by, but Justin makes a good case."

"Killing's easy," Justin said, "but there's no justice in the event. Given proper incentives, I know that the other Hunter will come after _me_ , and that will allow us to bring both of them to true justice." He leaned forward slightly, "Attacking a werewolf isn't technically a crime at the moment, because there's no acknowledgement of them. Attacking a Power Ranger, even a temporally displaced one, brings in a higher level of law enforcement that I can definitely leverage into taking both of them out."

"And what would happen to them?" Zackery asked.

"They will be transported to a facility where they will be physical placed in stasis, but mentally will be subjugated to experiencing the death of every sentient being they have ever killed. They'll experience this state of being until they die or their sentence ends. At this time, it rates as seventy-five years for every sentient under the age of fifteen, decreasing in five year intervals for every ten years added to the victim's age." Justin tilted his head slightly, "It wouldn't now include feeling the Hale Pack burn, but some of the things I've dug up tells me that it won't be an easy time."

"And you're sure you can make this happen," Talia asked.

Justin smiled at her, "Before we came back, I took this case to a man I know who used to be able to manipulate and predict people to the point where his work was an ongoing Xanatos Gambit, including faking the deaths of all of his people before he retired to give them time to start over. He's the one who helped me pull this together, and if it goes south I know exactly where he is today, and I know exactly how to get him to help me. All I need from you is permission to act in your territory, and a favor."

"What favor?" Talia asked.

Justin took an envelope from his jacket and slid it across the table, "This is the location and identity of members of the McHale Pack that would benefit the assistance of a good Alpha. I'm not ashamed to admit that I put my own name on there, but there are others listed who deserve this."

Talia accepted the envelope and passed it to Zackery. "Is there any other assistance you require in this matter?"

Justin nodded, "Make sure nobody tries to kill the Hunter when you find out what's going on. I'm not telling you so that you can react properly later on. That, and allow us to make sure of the old train station as a crash point while we're here."

Talia stared at him for a long moment, her blue eyes piercing and thoughtful. She rested her arms on the table, "I need a moment to consider this. Please feel free to move about the ground floor while I discuss this with my Second and my Consort."

"Of course," Justin said, standing.


End file.
